Disability Rights Oregon Executive Director Bob Joondeph said people with disabilities are often paid less than their colleagues, even when performing comparable work. He said it's in part because disabled people will often accept lower wages because they're desperate to get and keep a job.

But Joondeph said employers frequently lowball disabled workers because they don't think they're up to the task. He said the bill will hold those employers accountable, by strengthening the right of workers to sue their employer.

"We will end up in a world in which pay decisions will be made based on the quality of a person's work, rather than on some preconception of what that person's work is worth,” Joondeph said.

The pay equity bill initially met with stiff resistance from business groups but a compromise version ultimately passed the Oregon House and Senate without opposition.